Big ideas don’t wait — and neither do the researchers behind them.

The 2026 Reach for the Stars honorees — six Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ assistant professors — are already making a substantial impact on their respective fields through meaningful research and creative work that extends far beyond campus, with national and international influence.

Across disciplines, their work and research reflect a shared mission to advance ideas into impact — uncovering what shapes ethical decision-making in the workplace; exploring the origins of our solar system; developing computational solutions to meet future energy demands; designing more intuitive and reliable software experiences; strengthening education for students with disabilities; and engineering faster, more energy-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Together, this brilliant group represents the kind of bold, forward-thinking innovation Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ continues to champion.

Each year, the Reach for the Stars awards recognize early-career faculty opening new doors for what’s possible across their fields. The prestigious award is second only to Pegasus Professor as Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s highest faculty honor.

In recognition of their achievements, each honoree will receive a $10,000 annual research grant for three years in addition to the distinction of being an award recipient.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ community is cordially invited to come and congratulate the recipients from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, in the Pegasus Ballroom at the Student Union as part of the 2026 Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration.

This year’s Reach for the Stars honorees are:

John Bush

Assistant professor of management in the College of Business

What’s something few people know about you?

Working at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is a homecoming for me. Growing up in Florida, I had the opportunity to experience all the great things this state and its universities have to offer. And while my younger self might not have predicted I’d end up in Black & Gold, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and Orlando have been incredible homes.

What does your research focus on?

I study when, why, and how employees cross ethical lines, and what role leaders, management policies, and organizational systems play in those decisions. A big part of what makes my work unique is that I focus on an important puzzle: how things we typically think of as “good” can promote unethical behavior. We tend to assume that well-intentioned management practices will always lead to good outcomes. However, my research shows that’s not always the case, and the unintended consequences can be significant.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

Before I entered academia, I worked in corporate finance and accounting. That experience meaningfully shaped how I think about ethics in organizations.

There’s a common assumption that unethical behavior is a “bad appleâ€� problem, or rather, that it comes down to an individual’s character or integrity. But as my work has shown, it’s often a “bad barrelâ€� problem. The environments organizations create, the systems they put in place and the ways managers approach leadership profoundly influence how people behave.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

I’m a firm believer that the people make the place — and the faculty, staff and students of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ are truly what make it such a great place to be. The College of Business has a management department full of colleagues who are both excellent scholars and genuinely collaborative people.

What’s next for you or your research?

I’m excited about several new directions, each of which builds upon my existing work. I’m particularly interested in examining more nuanced, less studied drivers of ethical decision-making. For example, what happens when someone becomes an accidental witness to unethical behavior? How does that experience shape what they do next and the moral burden that’s placed on them?

Ana Carolina de Souza-Feliciano

Assistant professor at the

What’s something few people know about you?

While many people know I’m not afraid to face challenges, few know that I’m afraid of roller coasters.

What does your research focus on?

I study the small bodies of our solar system (objects such as asteroids, Trojans and trans-Neptunian objects) from an observational perspective to try to understand how our planetary system formed and evolved. The small bodies that remain from the early solar system still preserve clues about the materials and conditions that existed when planets formed. By observing their surfaces, compositions and physical properties, we can piece together the history of how the solar system came to be.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

The solar system still holds many unanswered questions, and every observation has the potential to reveal something completely new about its history. I’m especially motivated by the idea that these small and distant objects preserve a record of the earliest stages of planetary formation, and since we still don’t know much about them, we need to better characterize these groups to have a chance of getting closer to important scientific answers.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ provides a dynamic research environment with strong collaborations and access to facilities that help me achieve my scientific goals.

What’s next for you or your research?

I aim to expand my research group and continue developing new projects exploring the composition and physical properties of small bodies in the outer solar system.

Shyam Kattel

Assistant professor of physics in the College of Sciences

What’s something few people know about you?

I enjoy long, quiet walks or runs. It’s when I do my best thinking and come up with new ideas for teaching and research.

What does your research focus on?

My research group is interested in understanding chemical processes through computer simulations. These chemical processes are central to many energy and fuel generation and energy conversion processes. We are exploring the design of catalytic materials that selectively convert abundant small molecules, such as CO2, N2, NO3, O2 and H2O, to a wide variety of synthetic chemicals and fuels in a carbon-neutral way to fulfill the growing energy demand of the future.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

I’m a huge advocate of sustainability. I’m fascinated by the rapid development and advancement of modern computers, machine learning (ML) and AI, which have enabled us to understand complex science on a time scale that’s impossible with traditional trial and error methods. This unique opportunity to utilize supercomputers with ML and AI to tackle energy and sustainability challenges keeps me awake at night.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

By training, I’m a physicist, but my research focuses on looking into chemical reactions. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s physics department is among a handful of institutions in the U.S. with a very strong catalysis program. This allows me to collaborate within the department and teach a physics course, which I enjoy. Additionally, the university’s large size and research facilities present opportunities to recruit the best students and to collaborate both within and beyond the department.

What’s next for you or your research?

My lab is developing capabilities to integrate ML and AI into our methods for understanding structure-materials property relationships across a large set of materials, driving the development of the next generation of clean and sustainable energy and fuel generation technologies. Our goal is to develop an integrated materials design framework that anyone can use for their research and for teaching research-based undergraduate and graduate courses.

Kevin Moran

Assistant professor of computer science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, director of the Software Automation, Generation and Engineering Research Lab and affiliate of the Cyber Security and Privacy faculty cluster initiative

What’s something few people know about you?

I was a Division 1 rower as an undergraduate at the College of the Holy Cross. Our team competed in the national championship regatta my senior year and was ranked among the top 20 teams in the country.

What does your research focus on?

If you’ve ever been frustrated by glitches in apps or websites, my students, collaborators and I aim to give engineers the tools they need to build more reliable software. My group has pioneered work in user interface engineering, focusing on user-facing systems and making software easier to use.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

Since I was young, I’ve enjoyed building things, taking them apart and understanding how they work. I view software as the ultimate engineering medium, where abstract ideas can quickly become reality. What excites me most is tackling the complexity of modern software systems by developing tools that engineers can easily adopt. Seeing those tools save engineers hours or days of time is truly fun.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has been an excellent place to grow as an early-career researcher. I’ve received invaluable mentorship from department and college leadership, as well as senior faculty. The university’s connection to the local tech industry is also exciting, and I look forward to forming connections with local companies to put our tools into practice.

What’s next for you or your research?

Software engineering is rapidly shifting toward agentic workflows, where AI-powered agents perform engineering tasks autonomously. While this increases speed, it also introduces complex errors that are harder to spot. My lab aims to understand these software engineering agents, improve their reliability and create tools that help developers use them effectively.

Soyoung Park

Assistant professor of teacher education in the College of Community Innovation and Education (CCIE)

What’s something few people know about you?

When I travel for conferences, I love to explore local bookstores and cafes.

What does your research focus on?

My research focuses on transforming educator preparation to better support students with disabilities. Supported by more than $3.75 million in U.S. Department of Education funding, my work prepares special education teachers, speech-language pathologists and school psychologists to serve students with autism spectrum disorders and high-intensity needs. I also develop evidence-based mathematics interventions for students with learning disabilities.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

Mathematics remains an area where both research and practice need stronger alignment. Teachers need accessible, evidence-based guidance on how to teach effectively, but it isn’t always easy to find or interpret. Students need consistent access to high-quality instruction that meets their individual needs. I’m interested in helping bridge that gap so that research can better support educators and the students they serve.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s strong infrastructure for research and collaboration further amplifies my work. Support from the Office of Research has been instrumental in advancing my research development, grant capacity and interdisciplinary collaboration. As a CCIE research fellow and affiliated faculty member at the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute, I have valuable opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration across colleges.

What’s next for you or your research?

Our next project focuses on synthesizing large data sets to help educators identify mathematics interventions that align with their students’ needs. We’re also exploring how AI can support this process through pedagogical AI chatbots and interactive web-based platforms that guide educators in interpreting and applying research evidence in practice. Ultimately, this work aims to strengthen both instruction and student outcomes at scale.

Hao Zheng

Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science

What’s something few people know about you?

I enjoy traveling, especially visiting national parks and exploring new cities. Each trip helps me recharge, and I often come back with fresh perspectives and new ideas.

What does your research focus on?

My research focuses on making today’s AI systems faster, more energy-efficient and more reliable by bridging the gap between algorithms and hardware. AI has reshaped daily life, but behind the scenes, modern AI models require enormous amounts of computation and energy. My work explores new ways to co-design hardware and software so AI can run efficiently, especially for irregular or sparse data structures, such as graphs.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

I’m driven by both the importance and the difficulty of the problem. We’re at the turning point of rethinking future computing systems. Defining a new computing paradigm, despite its challenges, can have a far-reaching impact across society. Our research can fundamentally reshape how future computers are designed and how AI is deployed at scale.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is an ideal place to pursue bold research ideas, supported by strong momentum in engineering, computing and interdisciplinary collaboration. The university also offers an exceptional and supportive community of mentors and collaborators, including students, who set a high bar for excellence. I’ve been fortunate to work with many outstanding colleagues, and those experiences have shaped how I think about building a high-impact research program and growing as a scholar.

What’s next for you or your research?

Next, we’re expanding our work toward real-world deployments, including applications in healthcare and robotics. We’re also continuing to strengthen our research in building processors for AI and scientific computing so that our ideas can translate into improvements in performance and energy efficiency.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ alum Kelly Shea ’23 understands first-hand the academic challenges some children struggle with in the classroom. After all, she was once one of them.

“School just didn’t make sense to me,� says the elementary education grad, who couldn’t read until midway through elementary school.

Those early challenges have been integral to Shea’s career path as an educational entrepreneur. They also fuel the “why� behind her mission to empower young students through her start-up business that offers invention education kits for kids.

Making Sense of School

Growing up, Shea recalls struggling in every subject, especially reading, during her elementary school years.

“I had trouble comprehending things,� says the 23-year-old, who has since written and published four children’s books. “My first-grade teacher, Ms. Shepard, was the one who recognized I was having problems. I met with her almost weekly throughout second grade for extra support. Things finally started clicking for me in middle school, but I struggled a lot early on.�

She got involved with a Tampa-area nonprofit called Girls With Confidence, which empowers young girls in developing positive self-esteem. As she got older, she began volunteering and taking on more leadership roles with the organization.

“I would come up with activities and games for their programming and realized that I love teaching and creating impact, like how people did for me,� she says. “I just loved working with kids. I wanted to help them find solutions to their struggles because I was there once, too.�

Shea carried that determination and creative, problem-solving spirit throughout her time in and leveraged it to create two businesses before she graduated. She credits Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s and as crucial resources that complemented the knowledge she gained in her coursework, ultimately fueling her career path today with Innovation Station LLC.

Connecting Education and Entrepreneurship

While taking the Careers in K-12 Education course with Cristina Sáenz ’22PhD — now an invention education manager for Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lemelson-MIT Program — Shea had her light bulb moment: She could bridge her passion for education with her entrepreneurship endeavors.

Invention education is a learning approach that challenges students through hands-on problem-solving. Shea often saw this play out during her internship with , where young patients face educational challenges due to injuries and illnesses.

“At Nemours, I saw how kids with cerebral palsy adapt things for their needs, and it inspired me because that’s what invention is about,� she says. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I create a series of kits for K-5 students that teaches them to go back to the basics of hands-on learning?’�

With that, Innovation Station LLC was born during her last semester at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

Empowering Tomorrow’s Innovators

Through Innovation Station, Shea offers a series of four invention education kits that teach children to identify and explore problems, brainstorm and develop innovative ideas, build and prototype concepts, and practice their presentational skills.

Each kit includes a relatable storybook — written by Shea herself — as well as guided activities, worksheets, crafting supplies, and lesson resources for teachers. Even the packaging is designed to be used as part of the inventive process. With the final kit in the series, students cut off the sides of the box to make into a poster board they’ll use to pitch their product.

“They’re reminded that their product is a prototype; it’s not going to be perfect, and failure is OK because we can always fix things based on what we learn from it,” she says. “They learn how to communicate their brand with problem and solution statements. The books also cover easing those presentation nerves and learning to support your friends even if you’re competing.”

Prior to launching Innovation Station kits in July 2025, she conducted a six-week focus group with the Girls Scouts of Citrus Council, where she was able to test the kits with girls ranging from 4 to 12 years old. One 4-year-old invented a soft pencil because she was just learning to write, and regular pencils hurt her hand.

“It’s meant to teach them to be problem-solvers,” she says.

Since then, Shea has been promoting Innovation Station kits while also working in manufacturing, helping others bring their own inventions to life. She is piloting the kits this semester in partnership with fellow teacher education alum Chuck Burgess ’92. The kits will debut in nine Tampa-area elementary schools through local nonprofit High 5, Inc., which offers a variety of after-school and recreational programs.

“I took a chance on myself, and I decided that this is what I want to do.â€� — Kelly Shea ’23

She aspires to collaborate with school districts to introduce them into today’s classrooms.

“I took a chance on myself, and I decided that this is what I want to do,� she says. “I want to inspire and have an impact on the next generation and help create core memories by facilitating those light-bulb moments of, ‘Wow, I can be an entrepreneur.’�

“The current trend underscores a powerful movement,â€� says Winder, a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ social science education alum. “Families are actively seeking learning environments that align with their values, schedules and children’s unique needs — and FLVS is playing a vital role in this transformation.â€�

Before looking at the supporting data, take a closer look at Winder’s career. She hasn’t always been a champion of digital learning. Before she gave the concept much thought, she was using her Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ training to teach world geography in traditional public school classrooms. She moved into an administrative role to have a broader impact on students and teachers in those same settings. A job with FLVS, first as an instructor, came along in 2003 and stirred up a deeply rooted desire in her.

“I saw virtual education as an opportunity to build meaningful relationships in a more personalized way,� Winder says.

Relationships. It isn’t the answer you might expect regarding online school. But ask Winder about the growth of FLVS and she prefers to focus on that — individual relationships — rather than a bullet-pointed list of statistics. The numbers cannot be overlooked, though, as Winder says: “The success has been remarkable.�

• When FLVS launched as a pilot program in 1997, there were 77 students and five courses. For the 2024-25 school year, FLVS served approximately 230,000 students in hundreds of courses across the state.
• In 2011, FLVS launched a full-time public school. Florida Virtual High School now has a 92.6% graduation rate, placing it among the top 10 non-lab school districts in Florida.
• This past school year, 1,250 students graduated from FLVS Full Time. More than 20% of them earned summa cum laude honors.
• The range of classes continues to grow, from Driver’s Education and Guitar I to Advanced Placement and career courses in fields like artificial intelligence (AI), agriculture and cybersecurity.
• FLVS has become so widely recognized that it launched FlexPoint, an entity to support schools in all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
• Today, for the first time in Florida’s history, more than half of all K-12 students are enrolled in an educational option of choice (1,794,697 students out of 3.5 million), with FLVS among the most popular options.

While Winder has been a force in driving these numbers, the numbers don’t drive her. There’s something more that made her say “yes� to virtual learning when few people understood it. Something that motivated her to learn leading-edge technology while also using it to teach one student at a time. Something that made her eager to take on additional titles and responsibilities and hours. And something that makes her say this from the depths of her heart:

“This is work that matters, and that’s what makes it worth it.�

Perhaps it isn’t pure coincidence that the transformation of FLVS aligns almost perfectly with Winder’s own transformational path. Go back to 2003, to that time when virtual learning was in its infancy. Winder comes to this fork in the road. Her classroom and administrative credentials are growing. She’s making an impact. And yet she decides to take a turn directly into the ethereal world.

“I chose to make the leap because I genuinely believed virtual learning could be the future of education.�

“The technology was limited. The instructional models were still evolving. But what I saw then, and what has driven our work ever since, was the need for flexible student-centered learning experiences.�

Confident as she was back then, Winder could not have foreseen the year 2025. At that time, she drew her confidence and her purpose from looking back to examples that had been set for her, examples that inspired her to one day lead a transformation.

Educators know how the most fruitful seeds of learning are planted: At home and at a young age. This is certainly true for Winder’s upbringing in Jacksonville, where her dad coached youth sports and her fondest memories are of weekends “in a house full of laughter.� It formed the first building block in her concept of optimum education.

“My parents worked hard, but they always made time for family, which shaped the values I carry with me today.�

High school teachers provided another building block by bringing joy and authenticity into classes.

“They held us to high standards, but in a way that felt encouraging rather than intimidating.�

Then, during her first class at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, a professor who had been an elementary school teacher shared a story that Winder vividly remembers 35 years later.

“Each year before school started, she would ride her bike to visit her students at home,� she says. “She didn’t just talk about the importance of relationships. She lived it out. Her example helped me understand that great teaching starts with genuine connection.�

The blocks continued to stack. In her first teaching job, Winder took note of administrators who fostered a supportive environment that felt like family. With her approach to education shaped — one person, one relationship at a time — she agreed to be a history instructor for ninth through 12th graders through FLVS.

“My first set of welcome calls with families was such a natural and impactful way to begin the teaching relationship. I was hooked. I knew virtual education would give me the chance to support students in ways that weren’t always possible in a traditional classroom.�

During that first year with FLVS, she had a student who was a professional athlete and needed one-on-one instruction to meet graduation requirements. Winder would connect as late as 10 p.m. to accommodate his demanding schedule.

“He went on to accomplish great things and continued to check in with me for years,� Winder says. “It was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we truly tailor education to fit the student. Math lessons, for example, can include football statistics for a student who loves the sport, or if a student enjoys baking, figuring out the amount of flour needed to make a cake. Now, with AI, we can learn a student’s interests before they start class, which increases the likelihood that they’ll thrive.�

Winder’s passion for reaching each student personally, no matter where they are, is a big reason she was chosen to lead the effort to build from the ground up the first unified school district for the more than 2,300 students in the care of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. In its first year, 226 of those students in the Florida Scholars Program (FSA) earned diplomas, another example of the FLVS’s transformative potential.

“Education restores hope,� Winder says. “The success of FSA reflects what can happen when we reimagine education for students in any situation.�

To Winder, school has never been defined by a building, and virtual education has never simply been about convenience or digitizing lessons. It’s about maximizing innovation to make education more agile, more individually focused and more powerful. Where it once was a last resort, it is now, for many families, a first choice.

“The heart of why we do what we do has never changed,� Winder says. “Ensure every student has access to high-quality education and unlock their lifelong potential. For that, we’re proud to be at the forefront of transformation.�

In response, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is collaborating with five other universities to create the Special Education Teacher Education Policy, Practice and Research Doctoral Training Consortium, or Project SPARC. The collaborative doctoral training consortium will prepare 22 scholars for leadership positions in higher-education institutions across the nation. Project SPARC’s goal is to increase the number of leaders in exceptional student education with expertise in evidence-based and responsive instruction, interventions and services that improve outcomes for children with high-intensity needs.

, director of the at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, serves as co-principal investigator on the consortium. Partner universities include Florida State University, George Mason University, North Carolina State University, Texas A&M University and University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Marino says the idea was sparked at the Higher Education Consortium for Special Education’s Winter Summit, which took place in Washington, D.C., in January. There, experts developed the idea to recruit scholars from across different institutions nationwide and their combined knowledge to leverage the best resources and practices.

“We’re going to be preparing these doctoral students for special education leadership, and the ultimate idea is that each one of those individuals will then go out and prepare their own students to combat the nationwide exceptional student education teacher shortage,â€� Marino says. “We’re talking about serving students who have the most intense needs and require the most support. They need teachers who are adequately prepared to do that, and that’s really what this is about.â€�

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, the five-year, $6.5 million grant empowers the consortium to address the exceptional student education teacher shortage. One of just two such awards given, Project SPARC aims to accomplish this by equipping each scholar with expertise in teaching, research, recruitment, retention, policy and research-to-practice partnerships. Collectively, these scholars stand to impact 11,000 students with disabilities annually.

Of the 22 total scholars across the six universities, five will call Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ home and ultimately graduate with a fully funded doctoral degree in exceptional education. The consortium model, however, is unique in that it operates on a shared set of coursework and experiences connecting the students across all partner universities, including opportunities for them to network and present together. The shared series of courses will be taught at different institutions on a rotating basis.

“For example, at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, in the summer of year two, I will be teaching a grant-writing class that will be offered to all participating students,â€� Marino says. “These classes also give us a recruiting mechanism to bring in future faculty who we know are highly prepared because we’ll have worked with them during their doctoral program.â€�

Additionally, each scholar will have the opportunity to participate in unique internships at any of the six different sites.

“Because of that, we have an opportunity to bring people in to see how students with high-intensity needs can integrate into an active community and hone job skills,� Marino says.

Marino and the Project SPARC team are currently recruiting for the first cohort, which is set to begin in Fall 2025. Eligible candidates must have a master’s degree and at least three years of teaching or comparable experience. They’ll also need to demonstrate commitment to a full-time, in-person doctoral program. Each will receive significant benefits, including tuition assistance, stipends, health insurance, and research and relocation funding. Potential candidates interested in more information on Project SPARC should contact Marino.

“Leveraging our resources and contributions to evidence-based practices is going to be highly beneficial to the group, and I’m excited to be working with some of the best people in the country on this project,� Marino says.

Researcher Credentials

Marino is a professor of exceptional student education in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s . He is also the principal investigator for the Inclusive Education Services program, which aims to enhance workforce readiness and participation for young adults with intellectual disabilities. His research focuses on game-based learning, STEM education, universal design for learning, school-to-work transition and teacher preparation. His research has been supported in part by over $17 million in federal grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Supported by a five-year, $1.25 million personnel preparation award from the ED, Project ASD 7 aims to increase the number of fully credentialed special education teachers and speech-language pathologists in the workforce. The and the — both housed within the College of Community Innovation and Education — is partnering with the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in the to facilitate preparing scholars to do just that.

“This project is a collaborative grant that continues the work of Project ASD 6,� says , associate director of the TJEEI and principal investigator for the project. “With this new funding, 46 scholars will be supported as they complete their master’s degrees in either exceptional student education or while working together to earn the graduate certificate in ASD.�

The graduate certificate in ASD consists of four courses that constitute the requirements for endorsement by the state of Florida. By incorporating these requirements into both degree programs, Project ASD 7 ensures students in both disciplines receive state endorsement.

Since January 2004, various iterations of Project ASD have addressed the critical need for special educators who serve school-age children identified with intellectual disabilities and emotional disorders. The program provides funding for up to 36 credit hours and has seen over 600 graduates to date.

Qualified special education personnel are in high demand. The Florida Department of Education ranked autism second on its list of teacher certification shortage areas for the 2022-23 school year. A 2024 USDoE report shows 49 of 50 states reporting insufficient numbers of special education teachers and speech-language pathologists. Additionally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national employment rate for speech-language pathologists is projected to grow 19% from 2022 to 2032 — much faster than average.

, associate professor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and co-principal investigator of the project, reiterates the need for trained and credentialed specialists. She says this latest version of Project ASD is especially exciting due to its focus on increasing the number of specialists.

The central benefit of the program is its interdisciplinary structure. With a strong focus on collaboration, the project prepares scholars to work with professionals in different areas of specialization. Schaffer says this approach not only reflects the daily reality in the field but also has a positive effect on individuals with ASD.

“By building interdisciplinary collaboration, we develop strong skillsets so that teams who support people with ASD can work together more effectively,� Schaffer says. “A team consists of multiple professionals providing a variety of services — this might include a psychologist, a speech-language pathologist, a behavior analyst and an educator. Working together with a common goal for a child is the best way to set that child up for success.�

Towson adds that interprofessional education and practice is essential to working as a special education teacher or speech-language pathologist.

“Project ASD gives our students the opportunity to learn with and from each other to provide better outcomes for the children and families they will serve in the future,� Towson says.

, assistant professor in the School of Teacher Education, joins Schaffer and Towson as a new co-principal investigator for the project. Park, an expert in training special education teachers, says she is thrilled to collaborate with colleagues in a variety of fields to prepare educators to support students with ASD.

“Project ASD 7 will provide teachers and speech-language pathologists with rigorous, evidence-based instructional practices that will be more accessible for students. Our hope is that by increasing the quality of training for teachers and speech pathologists, we will empower students with ASD to realize their full potential,� Park says.

The project offers a wealth of valuable advantages. Enrolled students are eligible to receive a scholarship of $250 per course. They may also attend state and national conferences and complete internships with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-affiliated schools, organizations and educational agencies in the Central Florida region. To help scholars integrate coursework and field experiences, the program uniquely incorporates the use of mentor demonstration sites via live seminars, synchronous and asynchronous online presentations, and video streaming.

In addition to these short-term benefits, Park and the other members of the project also foresee long-term benefits to local educational communities, as program participants take their new knowledge and share it with fellow special educators and the families of students with disabilities to promote a more inclusive learning environment.

Many students and graduates consider Project ASD instrumental in shaping their career path. Kyra Liebertz, a current scholar, says her drive to become an effective and knowledgeable speech-language pathologist motivated her to apply.

“The opportunity to specialize in autism studies aligned perfectly with my professional goals,� Liebertz says. “Through coursework and hands-on experiences, I’ve developed skills in assessment, intervention planning and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams. Joining Project ASD has inspired me to pursue a career in high-needs schools.�

Going forward, Schaffer is confident Project ASD will continue to meet the needs of the workforce and provide scholars with the optimal training necessary to excel in their careers.

Those wanting to learn more about Project ASD and how to get involved should reach out to projectasd@ucf.edu.

Toon, a School of Teacher Education alumna who works for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) at Kennedy Space Center, is using her teaching experience to inspire students and teachers to shoot for the stars. The EGS program is helping lay the foundation for humanity’s return to the moon. EGS develops and operates the ground systems and facilities needed to process and launch rockets and spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis missions. Those involved in the project also play a primary role in assembly, launch, and recovery of rockets and spacecraft.

A large part of Toon’s role within EGS is to support outreach and engagement with local schools and communities. She’s been able to utilize her teaching degree and experience to help educate teachers and students on what EGS is doing, how they as the Artemis Generation can become involved, and what different career paths are available at NASA.

Toon’s journey began at age 4 with a love for teaching and space exploration.

“I remember being in daycare, trying to read a book about stars, and thinking it would be so cool to see space,â€� she says. “I didn’t think I wanted to be an astronaut, but I realized teachers could also go to space, and I loved my teachers. I decided I was going to be a teacher — maybe I’ll go into space one day, maybe not, but that’s what vividly shaped my path into going and pursuing a degree in education.â€�

While Toon initially pursued elementary education, her passion for learning and teaching evolved into a role at NASA. She now uses her skills to communicate the complexities of space exploration and engage with the students. She focuses on outreach and helping students understand the wide range of opportunities at NASA.

“When I visit schools, I ask students to raise their hand if they love math, and then if they hate it, I tell them NASA isn’t just for engineers or astronauts,� Toon says. “It’s for anyone with a passion, whether it’s art or reading or writing. Everyone has a role in exploration.�

Her teaching background has also equipped her with different skills that have been useful in her current role.

“Lesson planning and curriculum development taught me to plan with the end in mind,� Toon says. “That has helped me when creating measurable milestones and problem-solving.�

She also has fun engaging with the students with whom she interacts as she teaches them new things about space.

“Explaining to students how astronauts go potty in space — that’s always a super fun activity,â€� she says.

Toon highlighted several resources available for educators and students interested in space exploration. These include NASA’s STEM Engagement portal, interactive games and internships. Programs like Next Gen STEM provide practical tools and lesson plans for classroom use, while internship opportunities at NASA offer hands-on experience for aspiring professionals.

While Toon no longer dreams of going to space herself, her work continues to leave an undeniable mark.

“The Artemis missions are about creating a long-term impact, not just for the U.S., but for all of humanity,� she says.  “I get to help tell our story and help leave that legacy.�

However, , professor of exceptional student education in the , and postdoctoral scholar ’24±Ê³ó¶Ù have a plan to meet the critical needs. Through a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Dooley and Grays are helping further the education of 40 master’s students over the next five years with the goal of addressing the shortage of special education teachers right here in Central Florida.

The project, entitled Preparing Next-Gen Special Education Teachers (SET)/Scholars, aims to enhance exceptional student education through a cohesive academic curriculum aligning with the Department of Education’s goal to increase the number of special education teachers, including those from varying backgrounds and of multilingual capabilities. The 40 scholars are distributed across four cohorts, and each will receive a master’s in exceptional student education. Scholars will attend fully funded online courses while maintaining their current teaching jobs. They’ll also receive an annual $3,000 stipend. The inaugural cohort of 10 scholars began its studies this semester.

The National Center for Education Statistics reported in 2022 that approximately 44% of public schools nationwide had full- or part-time teaching vacancies. Of those, schools reported that 45% were special education teaching positions. During the 2022-23 school year, the Florida Department of Education ranked exceptional student education (ESE) as second on its list of critical shortages.

To help address the special education educator shortage locally, Dooley worked with school districts in Orange and Osceola counties through their superintendents to recruit returning scholars for the program. Student scholars will gain advanced skills and knowledge that will enable them to provide high-quality and linguistically responsive instruction, as well as intervention and student-centered approaches to exceptional student education.

“We brought in teachers who may not have had the full advantage of having a cohesive academic curriculum that’s relevant, relatable and value added for today’s classrooms,â€� Dooley says. “We wanted to create a program that would expose students to … relevant material, help them to understand the legislation that guides them and educate them on the extent of their roles so all of their students can be successful.”

Dooley and Grays say the program will not only be grounded in legislative knowledge and advocacy, but it will also create mentorship opportunities for this cohort and future cohorts to connect and share what they learn with their communities.

“This program is very intentionally built to be something that’s relevant to them, where they are and what their expertise is,â€� Grays says. “We also know they will be able to positively impact other educators, and we want them to be prepared to be teacher leaders who are grounded in legislation and able to advocate for their students and share that knowledge with their peers.â€�

Beyond meeting the need for special and general educators, Dooley and Grays add that their backgrounds as teachers motivated them to pursue this project. Both have witnessed firsthand what happens when children are not getting their educational needs met, whether that’s due to lack of resources or lack of knowledge regarding how to address their specific needs.

“There’s a whole host of students who are being left behind,â€� Dooley says. “There are students with disabilities and students who have been identified as having behavioral issues where those behavior issues overshadow their abilities. We believe that teachers need to have a learning curriculum that helps them determine what the deficiencies are in education, what their responsibilities are, and how they can be accountable to all learners.â€�

Grays says she was motivated to help after seeing students with behavioral issues falling behind in the classroom because their teachers did not have the proper knowledge of or resources to help them.

“I was an early childhood educator,� Grays says. “I worked with babies all the way up until they transitioned to school, and what I saw in that environment was that there were kids who were given up on before they were even in kindergarten.�

Grays adds that the scholars in this inaugural cohort say they have also identified these issues in their own classrooms.

“They’re actively experiencing what happens when we are not fully prepared,â€� she says. “Having the opportunity to help them learn what they need in order to best support their students is a privilege.â€�

One student in the inaugural cohort is Lizbetmar Vazquez, a current fifth-grade math and science teacher at Reedy Creek Elementary in Osceola County. Vazquez says she has always felt she may lack some training because she did not have a bachelor’s degree in education, which led to her desire to go back for her master’s.

“It means a great deal to me to be able to complete my master’s through NextGen,â€� she says. “They provided me with the chance to develop as a teacher and to speak up for my students. I am excited to become knowledgeable about special education regulations, acquire all the resources I need to speak up for my students, and teach parents how to be effective advocates for their kids.â€�

Jennifer Johnston, who teaches English language arts to ESE students in fifth through eighth grades, says she was grateful to be chosen for this program to continue her education at no cost to her.

“I have enjoyed learning more about the history of special education, and I look forward to learning more,â€� Johnston says. “This opportunity means that I will become more knowledgeable in my field and have the credentials to be looked at as an expert. I look forward to growing and opening my mindset to better serve the students I work with.â€�

Elizabeth Dooley
is a professor of in the and serves as the primary investigator for Project Next-Gen SET.  She also serves as the academic program director for the teaching, learning and development track in the education doctoral program. She has over 35 years of experience in higher education as a faculty member and administrator, and also serving in executive leadership positions at West Virginia University and the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. In partnership with colleagues, she has secured over $3 million in funding to support, in service teacher preparation, student success and university-community partnerships.

Ashley Grays ’24±Ê³ó¶Ù
Ashley Grays is a postdoctoral scholar in exceptional student education. She received her doctoral degree in exceptional student education from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. With over 15 years of experience in early childhood education, Grays explores innovative strategies and evidence-based interventions to reduce educational gaps.

These K-8 STEM educators, who comprise the Robert Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship program cohort, are each graduating with a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in K-8 mathematics education. However, their program doesn’t just end here. They are also serving as teacher leaders advocating for evidence-based instructional practices and transforming the ways in which mathematics education is approached.

The state of Florida has not only faced challenges posed by a shortage of teachers, but also by struggles in retaining highly qualified educators. These needs are often exacerbated in Title I schools, in which many of the Noyce program fellows work. Housed in the College of Community Innovation and Education’s and funded by a U.S. National Science Foundation grant, the five-year program directly addresses the issue of teacher retention through investing in quality educators by increasing their leadership capacity and mathematics expertise. It is led by Sarah Bush, principal investigator, as well as co-principal investigators Lisa Brooks ’92 ’06MEd ’14EdD, Juli Dixon and Brian Moore.

“Leadership capacity entails a combination of knowledge, experience, confidence, passion and opportunity,� Brooks says. “Our fellows are all natural leaders, and they are thriving because they harness the tools given to them and capitalize on every opportunity to follow their passion for ensuring that all students are provided with positive mathematics learning experiences.�

For Shane Wiggan, a Noyce fellow and eighth-grade teacher at Liberty Middle School, being prepared with the knowledge and strategies for effective mathematics instruction has not only helped him support his students’ learning gains but also in encouraging a love of learning.

“This program has equipped me with the tools to encourage students to harness their innate curiosity to solve math problems,� Wiggan says. “Instead of solely aiming to ‘get the correct answer,’ we now approach math tasks by thoroughly comprehending the problem and utilizing our existing knowledge. As a result of this change, I have noticed my students become more confident and enthusiastic.�

Although summer commencement marks the end of the Noyce Fellows’ academic journey, they’ll continue honing their leadership skills through the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-Orange County Public Schools Noyce Teacher Leader Academy over the next two years. The academy provides mentorship opportunities — including supervising Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ teacher education interns — that allow the fellows to share their expertise and positively impact both current and future teachers while continuing to teach in their own classrooms.

They’ll also continue an ongoing partnership with nonprofit City Year Orlando, an organization that provides support and resources for high-needs schools through their members taking on roles as volunteer student success coaches. Fellows serve as mentors to these volunteers, some of whom are interested in becoming teachers themselves.

“As I grow in my leadership capacity through the Teacher Leader Academy, I am looking forward to mentoring and supporting … STEM education professionals,â€� says Nisha Phillip-Malahoo ’21MEd, a Noyce Fellow and third-grade teacher at Pinewood Elementary. “I’m excited to work with these individuals to create opportunities for our students to explore STEM learning by utilizing this professional network to share and gain valuable insights, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within our schools.â€�

However, their leadership capacity transcends the classroom. Many of the fellows serve on boards and standing committees for national professional organizations, lead districtwide initiatives, present at mathematics education conferences and are publishing their research.

“Our work through the Teacher Leader Academy has always been centered on being responsive to the needs of the fellows and positioning them as leaders,� Brooks says. “We also focus on meeting the needs of Orange County Public Schools and City Year Orlando. Our project has regular online and in-person meetings where we provide ongoing professional learning, mentoring and support to fellows as they continue to serve as leaders, mentors, teachers and advocates.�

For Abigail Ruiz ’16 ’21MEd, another Noyce Fellow and fourth-grade teacher at Hidden Oaks Elementary School, her passion for sparking joy in mathematics with her students is rooted in her own academic journey. Growing up, she had a teacher who inspired her to not only persevere despite finding math difficult, but also to study education at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. It was while working toward her master’s degree that Ruiz learned to love math and science education.

“I never experienced the joy in a classroom until then,� Ruiz told a group of fellow teachers at a recent conference for NCSM, a mathematics education leadership organization for which she also sits on the board. “My mission is to help students experience this type of joy much sooner than I did because this type of revelation should not be confined to post-graduate education. Every learner deserves access to the wonder, joy and beauty of mathematics.�

Wiggan adds that teachers can sometimes become accustomed to affecting a finite space, such as a classroom or campus, in which they feel they can make a difference. However, he’s since learned his impact can extend far beyond.

“Overall, the Teacher Leader Academy has helped me realize that the only thing stopping me from making a more significant impact has been myself,� Wiggan says.

“I give them a minute to just get everything situated,� says the Orange County Public School teacher, “and we normally do a bunch of reading in the morning.�

Among their books of choice: If You Only Knew What Failure Could Do — the elementary school educator and two-time Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ graduate’s newly-released children’s book that’s inspired by her failures as a student to empower readers to overcome their own.

Failure is not an option. Why not? Who says so? Giessuebel believes failure is inevitable and wants children to have a healthy relationship with it. Only then will they learn the strength they achieve from failure is something they can only get from failed experiences.

Here Giessuebel shares more about her career in education, journey to becoming an author and the important message within her first book.

I was destined to teach.

I’ve always had a passion for working with children. I actually got inspired to teach by my first-grade teacher who’s a character in my book, Mrs. Daniels. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is really known for its , so there was no doubt when I graduated high school that I would go there because I knew the quality of education and the quality of professors that I would have would be unmatched to any other university.

The road to becoming an educator was rocky.

I was always never good at taking tests my whole life. I almost gave up teaching because I couldn’t pass the state exams. My brother has been a heavy supporter of me wanting to go into education. I remember when I didn’t pass some of the certification exams, he paid for my retakes without me even knowing. He was a huge part in how this failure has come to not be a failure anymore, but instead my testimony, my story. Without people like him, I don’t think I would be where I’m at today.

I feel the buildup of testing pressure in my own classroom.

It’s frustrating. In education today we see there’s so much pressure on these tests. I see students struggling with testing anxiety. They could be a straight-A student but not pass a test and then are told they can’t move on to the next grade. I’m trying to change that narrative. I’m open to talking about failure with my students. I tell them that we all are going to fail. I think it’s a balance between communication, encouragement and transparency as an educator to a student. It’s all about relationships and them knowing that I don’t value a test over them.

When I could write a book about anything, I chose to write about my failures.

I’ve always been super determined in life to not just be a teacher, but be a teacher with a purpose. I actually saw another educator write a book with children’s illustrator Diana McDermott. I was looking at the book and thought, “Why can’t I do this? I have a story to share.”

My 32-page children’s book is inspired by real life events that I’ve gone through. A boy named Thomas, who’s named after my brother, is called upon to read out loud in class. He has all this confidence as he’s reading, but then comes across a word that he doesn’t know. The fear of failure takes over him until his teacher, Mrs. Daniels, tells him that everybody fails and shares her own struggles with learning and needing a tutor. Through his teacher, Thomas gets to see failure from a different lens and realizes that it isn’t a failure, it’s just a learning step to get you to where you need to be.

It was pretty clear on my heart what I wanted to write about. Diana loved the story and believed in my vision, and that’s how the book was born. At first when I told my students that I was an author, they were like, “Oh, are you famous now?” No, I’m not famous, but look, an actual book came out of my failure. It’s proof that good things do come from hard times.

What has failure taught me? To believe in myself.

I was always never good at taking tests. But when it really mattered to get my degree at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, my failed experiences taught me that I can do it. I had to believe in myself because I’m the one taking the test. If everything was easy and we never got anything wrong, we’d never grow. So I think my failed experiences have built perseverance, resilience, strength and this unshakable belief in myself that I can do hard things. I’m proud of the failures, and now I’m not ashamed to talk about them. I hope that I can share this message with others: that we should be talking about our failures because we have something to learn from them.

The project, Connecting Enhanced Networks to Reach All Learners (CENTRAL), is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and will help educators in the state receive enhanced education and preparation.

Program participants will have the opportunity to earn either a master’s degree in exceptional student education or an educational specialist degree in school psychology at little to no cost to them. They will also earn a collaborative intervention specialist graduate certificate.

is a continuation of previous work, such as Project Bridges 2.0, which funded education for 56 scholars. The Project CENTRAL team, which is comprised of researchers in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s , say they hope to fund just as many or even more this time around.

A key emphasis of the project is enhancing collaboration between special education and school psychology using research and evidence-based practices. The goal is to facilitate high-quality implementation of these practices by program scholars within K-12 schools and to develop interdisciplinary programs that deliver instruction, interventions and specialized services for students with high-intensity needs.

“The scholars accepted into the program take four courses collaboratively, focused on communication, problem-solving, data-based decision-making and evidence-based practices,â€� says , a professor of exceptional student education and principal investigator. “Authentic performance tasks ensure creative solutions and innovative approaches to address current educational issues. We are focused on increasing the quantity of special educators and school psychologists and also the quality of professionals to address the needs for students that have more significant needs through innovative interdisciplinary programming.”

The first cohort of scholars will begin the two-year program in Spring 2023. Federal funds will pay for up to 36 credit hours toward the scholar’s degree program through Fall 2027.

According to data from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), there is a serious and critical shortage of school psychologists to support the needs of school-age children. Recent research indicates there is one school psychologist for every 1,828 students in Florida’s schools. NASP recommends a ratio of 500 students to each school psychologist.

Knowing there is a critical shortage of school psychology and exceptional student education professionals both at the local and national levels, the team worked closely with leaders around the Central Florida area to help co-construct the program to address policies and procedures locally and within Florida. This is especially important because most of these scholars are employed in the 10 school districts within Central Florida, says Dena Slanda, a research associate in the and co-principal investigator.

The project will also impact how school psychologists meet the needs of students with behavioral and mental difficulties, says , professor of school psychology and co-principal investigator.

“Supporting the mental health needs of students in Florida schools has become a growing concern,� Edwards says. “Vivek Murthy, the nation’s surgeon general, has referenced this as a youth mental health crisis. This led us to propose funding to help prepare school psychologists and teachers to be trained in specific psychosocial and psychoeducational strategies to be more responsive to the needs of students. As a result of being awarded the federal funding, these projects are providing highly trained school psychologists and exceptional student education teachers to Florida schools to mitigate the youth mental health crisis.�

Research conducted as part of the grant provides evidence that specific collaborative training strategies are valuable in developing these highly effective professionals, and the school psychology aspect is a crucial part of this, Slanda says.

“Historically, this program used to be focused just on special education teachers,â€� Slanda says. “Now, being able to prepare both special educators and school psychologists is really the critical piece moving forward. U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs wanted to make sure that if we are going to have a collaboration of all experts in K-12, there needs to be collaboration in the higher education setting as well.â€�

The collaboration during personnel preparation will then lead to educators and school psychologists collaborating fluidly when it matters most — with the students in the schools, she says.

“I think the best part is just knowing how many lives we’re going to impact because we had a very similar grant, Project Bridges 2.0, and you don’t ever want to see the work stop,â€� Slanda says. “Knowing that the work will continue and that we’ll be able to keep moving forward is the best part.â€�

Educators interested in the program are encouraged to reach out to the Project CENTRAL team for more details.

Edwards is the chair of the . He received his doctorate in school psychology from the University of Florida. Edwards practiced as a school psychologist and district administrator with the School Board of Broward County before joining Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

Little received her doctorate in special education from the University of Kansas. She has received almost $30 million in external funding for research and development from federal, state and foundation agencies, including the Institute for Educational Sciences and the Office of Special Education Programs.

Slanda is a research associate in the School of Teacher Education. She received her doctorate in exceptional student education from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. She is the project coordinator of multiple grants from the Office of Special Education Programs focused on personnel preparation for special education teachers, school psychologists, and speech-language pathologists.